Daytona Cubs' Soler suspended, sent to meet with Chicago brass

Jorge Soler, a Chicago Cubs prospect who has a nine-year, $30 million contract, was given a five-game suspension by the Florida State League.

SEAN KERNAN AND BRIAN LINDERSTAFF WRITERS

DAYTONA BEACH — Jorge Soler, a Chicago Cubs prospect who has a nine-year, $30 million contract, was given a five-game suspension by the Florida State League on Thursday, but when the outfielder will be back in a Daytona Cubs uniform is an unknown.

The organization was making travel plans for Soler on the same day FSL president Chuck Murphy issued the suspension and a fine to the 21-year-old Cuban for “charging” — with bat in hand — the Clearwater Threshers dugout and getting ejected from Wednesday's game at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Soler, the 34th-best prospect in Baseball America's Top 100 list, was going to either Chicago or the organization's spring training home in Mesa, Ariz., to meet with Cubs brass, according to Chicago's director of player development and scouting Jason McLeod.

It's there where Soler will start working through the issues that got the hot prospect hot under the collar following a benches-clearing incident after the seventh inning Wednesday.

The hostilities began after Soler slid into second base and got tangled with Clearwater second baseman Carlos Alonso on a double play to end the inning. Both benches cleared, and moments after things appeared to have settled down, Soler grabbed a bat and charged out of Daytona's dugout toward the visiting first-base dugout.

Soler, who is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, never swung the bat but had to be restrained — pitcher Frank Del Valle being the first Cub to grab him — and whisked off the field by teammates and coaches.

“He charged them with the bat. That was after everything was pretty much settled,” said Murphy, who was at Wednesday's game. “He came flying out of the dugout toward the Clearwater dugout with a bat. That's why he was suspended.”

Soler's fine amount was not disclosed, and Murphy said “small fines” were issued to another 40 players — 20 on each team — for leaving their positions during the benches-clearing incident. Murphy said there was no fighting.

McLeod was just as shocked as anyone when he saw video of Soler heading to the Threshers' dugout.

“Oh, my goodness,” McLeod said, describing his initial reaction. “(The view) was from center field, so you don't really see anything but the blur of him running by with everyone else chasing him. But looking at that, and obviously we have the accounts from our coaches and staff that were there, and it's just not something you (normally) see. So my reaction was like, ‘Wow! What was said? How did it get to be like this? How did it happen?' ”

McLeod said the Cubs hope to get more answers after talking in person with Soler, and the organization is taking the matter seriously.

“Obviously, we condemn what happened,” McLeod said. “We respect the (FSL) president's decision on the suspension, and we're going to try to turn a negative into a positive. From the club's standpoint, to say it's unfortunate is an understatement. I can't stress enough how much we disapprove of what happened and condemn what happened.”

Asked when Soler is likely to rejoin Daytona, McLeod said: “When we feel that he's ready to get back on the field and compete from all aspects — physically and mentally. That will be a determination made after we have had some time to get away from the incident and to really — hopefully Jorge more than anyone — see clearly what happened and to make positive changes to make sure that it doesn't happen again.”

Theo Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, addressed the issue Thursday in Chicago.

“Jorge is tremendously remorseful about what happened and understands what he did was wrong,” Epstein told reporters. “He didn't sleep last night — was up all night thinking about it. He was very apologetic. He understands this can't happen again and understands there will be discipline associated with it.”

Soler had at least one hit in each of the Cubs' six games through Wednesday and was batting .455 (10 for 22) with two home runs and four RBIs. The Cubs will lose his roster spot during the suspension.

In a bit of irony, he'll be eligible to rejoin Daytona when it plays in Clearwater on Tuesday, but that is unlikely to happen based on McLeod's statements Thursday.

Daytona manager Dave Keller will have to adjust his lineup, and the D-Cubs are going to miss having one of the best prospects in the organization. Baseball America lists Soler at No. 3 and MiLB.com has him fourth among Chicago's minor leaguers.

“You talk to anybody in baseball, and if you told them, ‘Listen, you are going to lose your four-hole hitter who is hitting (.455) by the way, and he is leading in a lot of extra-base hits and all this other stuff, playing great defense and making things happen on the base paths,' '' Keller said. "I don't think there is any manager anywhere in baseball that would say they want that to happen. So, yeah, it is going to affect our team just like it would affect any team.”

Clearwater manager Chris Truby, who played four years in the majors, said he had never been a part of anything like the incident with Soler.

“It just happened fast,” Truby said Thursday at the Jack. “It was kind of a blur. We were in the dugout, and I was talking to our second baseman (Alonso) trying to find out what happened. By the time I looked up, (Soler) was there. Everybody acted fast to cool the situation. That was scary, but it was fast. (The Cubs) got there as quick as they could, and everybody did what they could to keep things from escalating.”

Soler's character has never been an issue, so the incident was even more perplexing, McLeod said.

“It's something that all of us could never see coming from him, just because he always has such a big smile and easygoing demeanor, and he's a hard worker,” McLeod said. “It's a big surprise. We're going to support the player and do everything we can to get him back on his feet and help him, as we would for any of our guys.”

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